Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Position Trimmed by Glenmede Trust Co. NA

Key Points

• Glenmede Trust Co. NA cut its Northwest Natural Gas stake by 8.5% in the first quarter, selling 25,016 shares and retaining 267,844 shares valued at approximately $14.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.13% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.25. Ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell, including new Underweight coverage from Wells Fargo with a $50 price target.
• Northwest Natural Gas reported quarterly EPS of $2.33, below the $2.40 consensus estimate, while revenue declined 0.8% year over year to $490.4 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4925, equivalent to a 4.0% annualized yield.

Glenmede Trust Co. NA decreased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 267,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,016 shares during the quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA owned 0.64% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $14,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NWN. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter worth $26,885,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,294,000 after acquiring an additional 448,796 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,437,000 after purchasing an additional 250,025 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3,319.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 211,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,887,000 after purchasing an additional 205,350 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 224.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 286,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,386,000 after purchasing an additional 198,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $48.80 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $49.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.55. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 0.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $39.29 and a 12-month high of $55.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The business had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $76,770.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,674,615.62. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas NYSE: NWN, commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.

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